Monday, May 25, 2009

SARAH WILSON: Blind Prom

PatsyFrom the series Blind PromProm Night at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 2008Photograph (c) Sarah Wilson/All rights reserved.

Chasity and MichaelFrom the series Blind PromProm Night at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 2008Photograph (c) Sarah Wilson/All rights reserved.

"People have asked me why I am photographing blind teenagers if they are never going to see the images. I have to remind them that these pictures will be shared with parents and friends – and the students certainly appreciated having somebody there to document how great they looked in their tuxes and tiaras"

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SARAH WILSONwas introduced to the blind community in 2005 when she began working as a still photographer and field producer on the PBS-funded film, The Eyes of Me, a documentary about four students attending the Texas School for the Blind in Austin, Texas. Springing from her immersion into this film's new company, Wilson's own series, "Blind Prom," focuses on an American right of passage, the high school prom. Throughout the night she captures candid moments of the prom attendees, while producing their formal portraits. These rich, full-color images express the joy and spirit of, the thrill and intensity for a group of marginalized teens participating in the universal experience of attending a formal prom.

Wilson received her degree in photography from New York University. She was awarded the 2008 PhotoNOLA Review Prize from The New Orleans Photo Alliance for "Blind Prom." Her personal projects include the well known work, "Jasper, Texas: The Road To Redemption", documenting in black and white the aftermath of the brutal dragging death of James Byrd Jr., a shocking hate crime that drew international attention. After a decade in New York City, Wilson now lives back in Austin, Texas.